Now You're in New York
by smangit
Summary: The Big Apple is not always the most friendly of places. Rachel Berry's career has taken off and left her lonely. However, things get interesting when she saves an old acquaintance from falling victim to a New York City mugging.


**A.N. - **I know you hear this all the time, but honestly, I'm so well hung. Alright, not actually, I'm not a man. Okay, in all seriousness, I know you hear this all the time, but this is my first time writing something such as this. So kudos for you reading it! And kudos for actually reading the Authors Notes, I never do. Oh, and you know the drill, tell me how terrible I am, make me a better writer.

**Disclaimer - **Quite obviously, I do not own anything to do with Glee. Except a number of their CDS, which I purchased from a local HMV.

**Now You're in New York**

Rachel Berry had everything she ever dreamed of. She was currently starring in a major Broadway production, lived in a perfect New York City apartment and had offers coming at her left, right and center. Rachel Berry should have been happy. However, all she felt now, as she dropped her keys on the island and walked over to plop down on the couch, was loneliness.

Sure, she had friends and a perfectly supportive family, but she hadn't had anything close to a significant other since Finn had dropped her in high school for her brief make-out session with Noah. It's not like she hadn't thought about it. There were more than a few people she had spotted, between then and now, that had caught her eye. Her dreams for a life of stardom were just too large to be mislead by wasting her time with false romantic lead-ons. So now, when she got home from a particularly rough day of rehearsal, she would hit the couch and pull out her tub of Purely Decadent ice cream and sulk with herself.

Tonight however, when she opened up the freezer and pulled it out, she was disappointed to open an empty tub. She sighed and closed the freezer. Grabbing her keys off the kitchen island, she headed back out. One of the many things she loved about the city, you could walk basically everywhere. Including the little store barely a block away that sold what she needed now.

Stepping out into the cold air, she shivered and pulled her scarf more tightly around her. She had just barely turned the last corner towards her destination, when she saw it. A flash of blond hair bobbing ahead of her. The girl ahead was walking with a confidence that made Rachel smile to herself. She enjoyed seeing other confident women, it was empowering.

Just as the woman past a small alley, not so far ahead of Rachel, two strong arms reached out and grabbed the woman and pulled her into the alley. Rachel froze, stunned to the spot. Normally, Rachel would take time to assess situations in front of her and create a list of pros and cons before making any rash decisions. At this point, that was just not an option. Rachel did something she rarely ever did: something risky.

A quickly quieted scream broke Rachel from her thoughts. Without thinking, she surged forward to the place the blonde had been standing and turned to look into the dark alley. It was difficult to see, but she could make out the silhouettes of two people. One was a man, tall and burly, the other the woman, who looked to be in fairly good shape. The two were struggling visibly. The blonde woman was losing and the man seemed to be forcing his hands and his body upon the girl without shame.

Rachel figured to herself that this was a good a time as any to put some self defence tactics into effect. Just as she ran towards the two though, any thought of special moves left her mind. She was delighted when she realised neither of the two had yet become aware of her presence in the dingy alley and she used this to her advantage when she did the only thing she could think of in such a short time. She brought her right leg up and connected her booted foot with the creepy mans groin. With a surprised grunt, he fell harshly to the ground in a lump. Rachel knew this wouldn't hinder him for long, so while he was down, she kicked him hard in the face for good measure.

In the shadows, she looked up at the blonde. Realizing there was probably a great need to get out of there quickly, she grabbed the strangers hand and pulled her out of the alley and continued pulling her as they sprinted through the street. Luckily, they weren't far from Rachel's apartment. Rachel pulled the taller blonde stranger into the lobby of the apartment and doubled over, catching her breath.

Looking up to start an introduction with the woman breathing heavily next to her, her eyes stopped dead in the eyes looking down into her own. The deep, brown eyes of Rachel, looked steadily back into unblinking, (yet beautiful, Rachel thought) hazel eyes. Eyes Rachel had not seen in about 6 years. Rachel gasped again, not from lack of oxygen, but sheer surprise. She knew this woman, well, she used to.

"Quinn?"


End file.
